User:Yeti Hunter/Sandbox 3

Project Peregrine was a 1975 proposal by the South Australian Railways for a major upgrade of the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line.

Background

In the 1950s and '60s, high population growth led to concerns about impending overpopulation, congestion and urban sprawl. Adelaide's population had almost doubled since the end of the Second World War, and was projected to reach 1.3 million by 19XX. In response, plans were made for a large American-style freeway system - which became known as the Metropolitan Adelaide Transit Study, or "MATS Plan". Initiated by the longstanding Liberal premier Thomas Playford in 1964, the report was released in 1968, proposing enormous freeways that would require demolition of many historic areas of Adelaide - including much of the affluent inner-eastern suburbs. Despite an increasing tide of public opposition, much of it from his own party, MATS was approved by the new Liberal premier Steele Hall in 1969, and land purchases for the enormous project began in earnest.

It was against this background that reformist Labor premier Don Dunstan was elected in 1970. Dunstan's government scrapped MATS in 1971, and initiated alternative solutions to Adelaide's expected population and congestion crisis. They advocated a decentralisation policy, the centerpiece of which was Monarto, a new satellite city to be built between Adelaide and Murray Bridge, to relieve population pressure on the capital. This vision would be supported by the completion of the already-under-construction South Eastern Freeway, and a range of upgrades to public transport, many of which involved new or speculative technology.